PROSECUTING MASS ABUSE IN SYRIAN DETENTION FACILITIES Jamil Hassan Current status Under investigation; arrest warrant is in force Context Facts Ongoing person-specific investigation by the German Federal Public Prosecutor for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Syria between 2011 and 2013 Suspect Jamil Hassan, head of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate Country of residence of suspect Syria Charges Crimes against war crimes In October 2018, French judges also issued an arrest warrant against Jamil Hassan, as well as Ali Mamluk and Abdel Salam Mahmoud. humanity and Developments in 2018 On 8 June 2018, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof – BGH) issued an arrest warrant against Jamil Hassan, head of the Air Force Intelligence Directorate, for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes, upon a request of the German Federal Prosecutor. He is accused of having killed, tortured, caused severe physical or mental harm to numerous detainees of the Air Force Intelligence Directorate between 2011 and 2013, in form of direct perpetration, co-perpetration, or as a military commander. The Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate is regarded as the most powerful and most brutal of Syria’s four intelligence services. Similar to other intelligence services, since 2011, the Air Force Intelligence Directorate is tasked with the surveillance, arrest, detention, and killing of all regime critics. For these purposes, the intelligence agency has numerous detention facilities across Syria, which are reported to be centers of systematic torture, sexual violence, and inhuman treatment of detainees. The inhuman conditions of detention, involving extreme hunger and an almost complete lack of medical care in the detention centers, allegedly resulted in critical medical states and deaths of detainees. Jamil Hassan has headed the Air Force Intelligence Directorate since 2009. Under his direct supervision, hundreds of detainees were allegedly subjected to torture, inhuman treatment, and extrajudicial killings. Procedure See Structural investigations against the Syrian government. Read more about the case 43